Analysis of Country School

Country discipline Allen Curnow By Abdulla Al-Muhannadi In this verse Country School, Curnow basks in reminiscence of his darkened give instruction where he drifts away in recalling his childhood. As this poem re? ects childhood reminiscence, the fibber searchs to realise that things arnt as dull and bad as they seemed before, on with the portrayal of the boilers suit issue of aging. However, the timber of the narrator seems to sway between enthusiastic and immaterial as there argon many ms when the tones seem to discord between two extremes. The epitome is describing a country schooling that seems to be somewhat dilapidated in condition.The vivid image drawn by the alliterative dialect paint all natural supports the fact that the school is indeed deteriorating. Tufts pass enables the reader to visualise a country school architecture, with genus Pinus tufts on its hood ridge, establishing an image of a normal country school. Through the usage of colloquial langua ge, these vivid images hold more detail then one might think they do at ? rst. For instance, the word dunny evolves a picture of local Australian toilets enlightening the interview to the low-tonedest of details.Furthermore, girls squeal skipping conjures up an auditory image as the little children are playing around him (supported by the sibilance). Several kinds of onomatopoeia help to describe what the figure is experiencing. THe ? uid r sounds in rank and roof-ridge help to integrate the ideas, linking them and helping discrepancy a wider image of the country school. Also, the b sounds in bargeboard, weatherboard and gibbet belfry calls attention to the detailed observation, helping build up a solid image. Curnow employs parallelism as well as repetition in order to create links in this poem.The parallel equality, or contrast, of how small how sad, draws a link with how he seems to be recalling his days rearwards in school. The passing of magazine and his ageing is revela ed as the rattling doors that seemed gigantic from a childs point of view, are now set forth as being kind of small. The persona refers to himself as a third person and this is deduced through and through the repetition of the word you. Perhaps the persona had a rough time reconnecting with his old school that he snarl more comfortable referring to himself as a third person rather than ? rst. The rhyme scheme is irregular mayhap something that re? cts his irregular chemical formula of this recollection of memories. It also reveals the lack of assurance, and the hard time he seems to subscribe re-adjusting to his past. ALthough is does follow an imperfect rhyme scheme (e. g. topping-skipping waves-eaves than-began small-wall), the ? uctuating rhymes and discordant sounds allows the audience to label his discomfort while re yelling his school. Curnow has make use of an unstable structure (so to speak), for the poem doesnt hold a constant number of stanzas, rather it begins wit h 3 and 5-lined stanzas and ends with two 4-lined stanzas.This growth of stability, signi? ed by the proper structure of the give way two stanzas, re? ects the growth or the increase in the poets clarity of understanding. Its as though he ? nally realised that the very things that were unsettling or intimidating to him as a child (e. g. terrible doors) are non as bad as they looked. This minor epiphany seems to be mimicked by the structure of the poem itself. Similarly, the narrator seems to subscribe to distracted momentarily and this stinker be shown in the second stanza after Pinus betrays. While observing the pinus he drifts away into talking about how they function.However, he does get back on track in the third stanza (for scantling pinus) as his focus shifts back to the tall channelises that seem to be guarding the school. in that respect is the use of enjambment as well paint all peeled on bargeboard, scattering bravely Nor West gale, etc. This suggests the pace at wh ich the narrator seems to be remembering his past and the sense of excitement is formal with this upbeat pace. The poet employs colloquial language, chie? y to perhaps connect with his audience and go on on an informal level by talking about something as casual as school. Gibbet belfry would be an instance of his simplistic yet local language helping the reader upgrade visualise the school and its locality in detail. The idea that the school started along with the persona himself brings into notice that it might not be as old as one would think. you call it old further suggests that he is scarce just referring to the school as being old when its not in actuality. The idea of ageing has been linked to the pinus trees that grow right in less than the life of a man. This line suggests that the time period for a tree to gain maturity is lesser than the time taken for humans.The word scantling further backs this idea for as it describes the cadence of the maturity of the tree and to deduce its time of harvest. Similarly, the word terrible implies that the poet wasnt actually fond of the tiny doors when he was a child, and its reference as being sad suggests its dilapidated state. Its through words the likes of these that the audience is able to sense a hint of unpleasantness in the poets past as he fails to hold an optimistic approach to this straits down memory lane. Rather the tone seems to be somber and melancholic. Furthermore, it insinuates that the narrator pities the state of his school.This poem holds a variety of ? gures of speech used and this perhaps re? ects the variety of emotions he himself goes through in this nostalgic visit to his old school. Alliterative phrases such as paint peeled, roof-ridge and tufts topping all help the audience in building up a vivid image of the school. A similar imagery effect is achieved through the series bargeboard, weatherboard and gibbet belfry. Using neologism (made-up word), the phrase snub-worn points out t hat the school isnt in the best of its condition as the ? oors have worn out. The pinus trees that portray the same pace of ageing have been personi? d as theyve been accused of betraying the school and not guarding the roof rom the rattling Nor West gale. However, the trees have also been described as scattering bravely, perhaps an attempt to denote the nobility of what the tree is doing for the school (by scattering the strong confidential informations and defending the meek school structure). This business of the trees has been compared to the reef through the analogy as a reef its waves for the wind is scattered just as the tidal waves are scattered by the reef, drawing an interesting comparison with the two elements wind and water.In addition, the comparison of the ages between the narrator himself and the trees establishes through the usage of polyptoton (where words/phrases derived from the same stem turn are repeated) less than a life of a man and in concert your lives be gan further stating the common point in time as they concurrently began this process of ageing. The poet holds a humorous, as well as a sarcastic, tone when introduceing O sweet antiquity as its been made clear that theyre not so old, let alone antique. Curnow has successfully, in my opinion, demonstrated through this persona, someone who seems to be in denial of emergence old.Its obvious that the narrator is just as old as the school, but we ? nd him calling the school antique, suggesting that he doesnt detect like hes getting older but ? nds it very well to exaggerate others age (sort of comedically hypocritical I would say ). Through the poem, Ive realised that its still possible to bask the past without having to hold the same perspective. In that sense, times change and so does ones perspective, however, it doesnt mean that things remain the same throughout and the very things that seemed unpleasant once upon a time might seem laughable now (as Curnow clearly demonstrated in the poem).